Inflorescence

In my series of plane-window-shaped paintings, featuring otherworldly flora, I aim to weave together the threads of travel, discovery, and transcendence within a unique visual narrative – of aligned plane windows within the gallery space.

These artworks are an exploration of the interconnectedness of our world, both terrestrial and beyond, and the wonder that comes from venturing into uncharted realms. Each painting serves as a portal to unearthly gardens that stretch the boundaries of botanical possibility. Through vibrant hues, surreal forms, and intricate details, I seek to evoke a sense of curiosity, inviting viewers to step into a realm where the familiar and the fantastical intertwine. The fantastical flora, thriving in unfamiliar soil, embodies a spirit of discovery by defying conventional expectations and inviting contemplation on the infinite variations of life's forms.

As an Australian artist, my creative path has been shaped by nature found both on my home soil and abroad. The inspiration for this series more directly stems from my encounters with Hawaii's diverse landscapes – a place that resonates deeply with its own unique blend of flora and vivid beauty, infusing these Hawaiian works with a special synergy. The works reflect discoveries of small oasis-worlds of life that live beneath the buoys off Ala Moana, the nooks and microcosms within the gardens, the forests, the urban canals, the volcanic terrains and the moment of interplay between land and sea.

The technique of fluid painting echoes the organic processes found in the natural world. Just as rivers of lava carve their own paths through landscapes, the fluidity of paint allows me to navigate the canvas intuitively, mirroring the way nature shapes itself. The flow of the paint captures the essence of the otherworldly, echoing the random growth patterns and vibrant colors of the exotic flora.

This series strives to communicate a transcendental essence - a reminder that the act of exploration, whether through physical travel or inner reflection, offers us glimpses of worlds that expand beyond the known, inspiring us to contemplate the interconnectedness of all things.

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I'm an Australian artist (a painter mostly) and I live and work from my studios in Honolulu, Hawaii and Melbourne, Australia.

I started painting full-time in 2004, and was coincidently about the time when an art market appeared on the internet. Although I had completed a bachelor degree in contemporary art a few years earlier, I wasn't ever expecting to have any success in the cut throat world of art that I had learned so much about. But I found myself unemployed, broke, and painting. And to my surprise and joy, there were these people on the other side of the internet that liked what I was making. I'm sure that if it were any other time in history I'd still be working in a bar (not that there's anything wrong with working in a bar! I loved it, and I often miss that life, but I have come to think that I'm better at pouring lacquers than liqueurs).

I've since toured the globe and taken on artist residencies in Japan, Thailand and Tasmania, and have exhibited throughout Australia and in China, Italy, Hawaii, Los Angeles, North Carolina, and NYC. I have work in the Presidential Suite of the Renaissance Plano in Texas, a large public commission in the courtyard of The Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico, and I have also recently had the privilege of painting a large 10 piece public art commission for Ovation of the Sea, a Royal Caribbean liner.

I think of my work as organic-psychedelia. They are familiar representations of ecology, but not quite of this world.

I’m drawn to the universality of patterns found in nature. From the micro to the macro, or the way a coral reef in northern Queensland harbours the same organic patterns as fungi in the alpine tundra in Tasmania. It results in an extrapolation of imaginings of what could lie beyond our knowledge, in interplanetary or inter-dimensional worlds, or the less frequently visited known worlds such as that of moss, fungi and entomology; places of bonsai-ed beauty that play with our scale perception, and evoke a sense of nostalgic fantasy.

My process is underpinned by a playful exploration of materials. The fluidity of paints are life-like, and my relationship with them is symbiotic. I often act merely as a facilitator to the materials’ natural ability to create chaotic and randomly beautiful effects. And with the further use of gravity and heat, I employ nature in an attempt to mimic nature. It’s a scientific process, executed organically, creating science fictional and psychedelic landscapes, and quasi-alien life.

2023 ‘Hawai’i: Windows of Discovery’ Ola Ka ‘Illima Art Space Gallery, Honolulu, USA
2022 Residency Ola Ka ‘Illima Art Space Lofts, Honolulu, USA
2019 ‘The Big Bonsai Painting Show’, Melbourne, Australia
2015 Japan, Kyoto residency with Master Ukiyo-e
2015 'Plasmo' (solo) GallerySmith Project Space, Melbourne
2014 'Hypnagogia' Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park, Melbourne
2012  ‘Rickshaw madam?’ Graydon Gallery, New Farm, Brisbane 
2012 Residency ComPeung Artist Village, Doi Saket, Thailand 


2021 Commission for Future of Work exhibition, Guangzhou, China
2020 Commission for Miami Towers, Miami, USA
2020 Commission for Mandarin Oriental, Riyadh, United Arab Emerates
2017 Commission for The Ritz Carlton, Puerto Rico
2017 Commission for Renaissance Plan (Presidential Suite), Texas, USA
2016 Commission for Ovation of the Sea, Royal Caribbean Liners
2012 Art Takes Time Square, New York City

2023 ‘Visions of the Past’ Saatchi/SuperRare NFT collaboration
2018 The Other Art Fair, NFT lounge, Los Angeles, USA
2021 Design Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2020 Design Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2019 The Other Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia
2018 The Other Art Fair, Los Angeles, USA
2018 The Other Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia
2018 The Other Art Fair, Sydney, Australia
2016 'Gelato' Traffic Jam Gallery, Sydney
2014 'Premio Combat' Museo Di Storia Naturale & Museo Civico G.Fattori, Livorno, Italy